Plans for houses on the old police station site in Cheltenham have met with a hold up.

CALA Homes want to build 68 properties off Lansdown Road, land they acquired for more than £7 million.

They submitted a joint application with the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire after discussions about what the site could be used for began in September 2016.

The scheme was presented to Cheltenham Borough Council's planning committee on Thursday, but the matter was deferred to a future meeting.

That was so the team behind the plans could reconsider the design elements to the front.

In February, Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl said the force and CALA had agreed a sale price of £7,150,000 for the land, with an additional £100,000 subject to the developer gaining acceptable planning permission.

The sold sign at the the old Gloucestershire Police HQ

He said it had been on the constabulary’s agenda for more than a decade but due to circumstances, many of them outside its control, it had taken longer to achieve than first envisaged.

Mr Surl said selling the building represented a good deal for council tax payers and with most of the money reinvested in a new investigative centre, Prism House, and custody facility, Compass House, it meant a more suitable working environment for staff who had re-located.

The constabulary still retains a presence in Lansdown Road, which has been its home since 1921.

Cheltenham Police Station is now at Holland House, formerly known as Wilton House, just a few doors along from the sale site.

A spokeswoman for CALA Homes said the firm is hopeful planning approval will be given but she had no further comment to make at this stage.